With all of the excellent cuts to choose from, the chosen lead single is a remake of a song that first appeared on Youthanasia, "A Tout Le Monde (Set Me Free)." Frankly, I was kind of surprised to see that on the album, I didn't expect a remake to be included on a new release, still, this is an excellent version that may outdo the original. This version features a duet between Mustaine and Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil, and they sound good together.
The album gets off to a thrashy start with "Sleepwalker," a high energy gut punch that kicks in after lulling you with the mellow intro. That leads directly into "Washington is Next!" another speedy tune featuring some of Mustaine's most overtly political statements since Peace Sells. It doesn't stop there, just take a listen to the title track, or "Play for Blood," or "Amerikhastan."
Beyond any lyrical content, which I do not care to analyze, Mustaine's voice has not sounded better in years. The emotion is back, you can hear the biting sneer on his face, feel the glaring eyes behind the long blonde hair. The solos are also first rate, Mustaine and Drover trade licks at mind boggling speeds, while never losing track of the song at hand. James Lomenzo lays down some of the best basslines since the departure of David Ellefson, and he pairs with Glenn Drover to propel the metal forward.
Bottomline. This is a strong album. It is not their best, and it is probably not the best of the recent crop of metal albums, but Megadeth is still a force to be dealt with. If nothing else, even in their bad years, Megadeth has never betrayed their metal roots. United Abominations proves their dedication to the music in the best way possible, it is good metal music.
Highly Recommended.
Article comments
1 - Brad Schader
Peace Sells was followed by So Far, So Good, So What, not Rust in Peace. To me, So Far is their best album- a classic from start to finish. Great review and I look forward to buying this one, just a minor correction, not an attack.
2 - Chris Beaumont
Thanks Brad, I keep mixing up Peace Sells and So Far in terms of their order, I think it may be because I am not all that crazy about Killin and So Far, they have some good cuts, but overall, I like the step from Peace Sells to Rust.
3 - Dave
Kudo's to a good review, even more so for being fair enough not to compare it to "Rust in peices" , a classic , even by todays standards.
Correction to the DVD release , "That one Night" ...Live in Buenes Aires, is litteraly one of the best live DVD's ever released.
This is the standard at wich MEGADETH deserves to be compared.
4 - jmac76
Love the review, and I agree that it does seem to have something about this album that reminds us of yesteryear. It's a good feeling, and definitely a worthy album for Megadeth fans.
5 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
GOD!! How many f*cking reviews do we need of the latest MEGADETH album?!? It's nice to see Mr. Mustaine TRY to release a solid metal album considering he has to appeal to the Roadrunner crowd but I don't know why I bother visiting here anymore...
Chris, you write a great review. I love your down to earth approach but you were right with the non-comparison to the batch of recent metal releases...SO, when will I see a review from you for one of those?
How about Aghora's Formless for starters and then Iced Earth's re-release of the Something Wicked trilogy w/ the new single Ten Thousand Strong that kicks major ass!!
6 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
*AND* How about Dream Evil's United...
7 - Chris Beaumont
Is the Iced Earth re-release out yet? I knew it was coming.....
I reviewed the latest Cephalic Carnage, does that count? I also did Chimaira's but you probably don't care for that one either :).
I'll see what I can do. I have a stack of Locomotive records releases to go through as well.
8 - Chris Beaumont
Oh yeah, good to see you are still around. I missed your comments.
9 - mo
love this album! i had been trying to buy it since oct. 31st ( the alleged release date). i could have done without the "tout le monde" re-do though, (yuck!) fuck the french! i didn't care for it the first time around.
10 - ary
buenos aires dvd is not that great daves voice really is limited in that dvd some times and its just a like other live dvd,s defnitly not a stand out no axtra,s and glen showing to much mindless speed soloing(doesnt mean he bad defbitly not)but no extra,s in the solo department like on rude awakening.
11 - Megaman
Nice review, just a note: its Glen(one n) on Guitar and Shawn on drums.
12 - Brian
This is an excellent album and I hate going to sites where stupid retards that don't the the differnce from a E and a G chord saying bad things about the album, I have listened to this album over and over and it still doesn't get old and I'm not even the kind of person to listen to the same album twice in a row but this one does it. "United Abominations" is awesome, and reviewers need to stop downgrading "Risk", it was my favorite Megadeth album until this one.
13 - cliff niesen
How do I order your book dave. I am ill and I had a friend get an
a signed picture of the band and you wished me well but did you mean it, man or are you like Lars from Matellica. I want this book . I tought myself to play guitar and how can i get bett if with hold information.